Justin Thomas will be playing in the Charles Schwab Challenge for the first time in six years this week.
Thomas last played at Colonial Country Club way back in 2020, when the PGA Tour resumed action just after Covid protocols were lifted.
The 32-year-old has won only once since 2022, with his last victory coming at the RBC Heritage in April 2025.
So Justin Thomas will be desperate to get back inside the winners’ circle this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Thomas is excited to be back at Colonial, and he has made it very clear just how much he loves the layout of the golf course.
But what does he make of the renovations to the golf course that were undertaken back in 2024?
Why Justin Thomas was ‘shocked’ after playing practice round at Colonial ahead of the Charles Schwab
The 32-year-old from Kentucky addressed the media in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday afternoon.
Thomas responded when asked how the soft conditions at Colonial could affect the way that he plays this week.
“When it’s wet like this? I mean, it’s pretty impressive and obviously the amount of money they spent and the changes they made, a lot of it out here was for the conditions of the course to be better,“ he said.
“So like the fairways, I was shocked at how firm they were. Outside the fairways and some of the low spots of the course seemed pretty soft and wet still, but overall I was very, very impressed.
“But when the greens are soft it’s just more of a, it just requires less. It requires less strategy, less thinking, you can get away with more, it’s easier chipping.
“You can get away with maybe with some poor iron shots that whether they would be landing on the green and going off or the ability to get the ball up-and-down because the greens aren’t as firm. But that’s always the case.
“The softer the greens are, the easier it’s going to play for us. But with how it’s firmed up in the last day or even 12 hours, you know, if they’re fortunate to not get rain the rest of the week it should be pretty good by the weekend.“
Justin Thomas gives verdict on Colonial Country Club renovation
Thomas was asked by reporters what he has made of the renovations at Colonial Country Club, having not seen the course for six years.
“Yeah, it’s definitely, it’s different. I feel like it plays very similar in terms of clubs you’re hitting off tees, the shape of, like the overall maybe bones of the hole. I think there’s just some tweaking,“ he admitted.
“Obviously have you some holes like 8 or 16, 13, that are very, very different. But for the most part it is very similar to what it was. I think my, in terms of do I like it better now or before? I think there’s some kind of combination of it.
“I think the greens are definitely lower, you have the ability to run it up on the green, which I didn’t feel like you had before. But I like some of the greens feel a little smaller and the contours are very subtle, so I like it, at least what I’ve seen.
“But it’s also been very, very soft and I can see when it gets firm how difficult it could play.“
